Qld tables $1 billion for major whole-of-government tech overhaul

The Queensland Government is to spend $1 billion to overhaul its technology delivery, aiming to unify IT investments and systems across 19 departments.

The program will be delivered through the newly established Queensland Government Digital Fund and aims to create a “coordinated whole-of-government approach” to tech investment.

Outlined in the state budget for 2025-26, the funding will be administered by the Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business, which was formed following a cabinet reshuffle at the end of 2024.

Speaking during a media briefing, Minister for Customer Services and Open Data Steve Minnikin said the funding will target the government’s “disparate approach to ICT” that has spanned decades.

“We’ve had departments who’ve had different email exchange services,” he said.

“We have 19 different departments… Many of them have had their own separate payroll or accounts payable, accounts receivable, CRM systems, etc…

“We think that is madness. We think there needs to be commonality… still promoting individuality, [but] where it makes perfect corporate sense to actually have aligned platforms, that’s what this budget provides for.”

Although unable to mention specific technology systems or initiatives, Minnikin cited TRAILS, a 30-year-old transport registration and integrated licensing system that runs on an IBM z16 mainframe as an opportunity for overhaul.

“That is something that we know forms an eco-development around it with API functionality… that’s something that we’d be looking at using AI to enhance its livability and serviceability, to make sure that we can also extend that to other [customer experience] opportunities and uses.

“That’s just one. We have hundreds and hundreds of databases… and we want to look at the way that we can integrate them.”